One Direction remove Zayn Malik from video montage as their world tour continues

Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson also take up his vocal duties at South Africa shows

One Direction removed former member Zayn Malik from a video montage introducing the band at their first shows since he announced his departure over the weekend.

The boy band performed at the FNB Stadium yesterday (March 29) and on Saturday (28), where singers Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson picked up Malik’s solos, reports The Independent.

It comes after Malik was reportedly spotted in a London recording studio with producer Naughty Boy, who has previously worked with the likes of Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran.

Malik left the boy band on Wednesday (March 25), after he had previously pulled out of the group’s Asian tour with stress.

Meanwhile, Simon Cowell’s Syco label is expected to release the former One Direction singer’s solo material, after securing the rights to any future music from the 22 year old. Malik’s former group had also been signed to the imprint.

Rumours about Malik’s future in the band were abound after he recently pulled out of the group’s Asian tour (March 19) so he could fly back to the UK to be with his family after pictures emerged of him with a mystery girl in Thailand. Malik is currently engaged to Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards.

“And I feel like I’m doing what’s right – right by myself and right by the boys, so I feel good. You know, I did try to do something that I wasn’t happy doing for a while, for the sake of maybe other people’s happiness. And that was mainly the fans. And I only ever tried to do it for the fans, and it was only ever for them.”

“I’m only upset [because] I feel like I may have let them down in some sort of way. It’s not that I’ve turned my back on them or anything, it’s just that I just can’t do that anymore because it’s not real to me.”